The COVID-19 war illustrates American federalism. The political system dispersing governing authority among three layers remains a critical pillar of American politics and my favorite research topic. It also helps explain the various responses to the pandemic.
Federalism sorts the country by culture and ideology as state and local (or what we federal scholars refer to as subnational) units promote policy initiatives according to citizen preferences. This explains why New York pursues different policy priorities than Texas and also why the states adopted distinct approaches to managing the virus impact. It tells us why leaders from one state lament the lack of national aid while another pursues rugged individualism.
Yet the story doesn't end there as federalism identifies why those differences exist separate and apart from partisanship. New York City became the Corona epicenter thanks in no small part to a population density exceeding 27000 people per square mile. Compare this to Houston, Texas with a density of 3,502 per square miles not to mention remote areas in west Texas where you may not see another person for days. These differences impact policy and will continue to impact Corona responses. This also means federalism remains an integral part of our response analysis.
I think it is interesting to see the differences in reactions to the pandemic at state level, and how each state differs in their lockdowns and shelter in place orders and everything. I am from Oklahoma, and I am glad to not be in Dallas right now where the number of cases is rising more quickly than here in Tulsa.
I agree, federalism is a vital aspect of our system. Without it, not every region would be cared for adequately. Federalism helps the country by adhering to each locations different problems with different solutions on how to fix it. This pandemic and how each state reacts presents the perfect example of why we need Federalism.
The federal government missed several opportunities to guarantee more widespread testing during the first days of the outbreak, when containing the virus would have been easier. This is a problem of the federal system in the United States. When the first case began in the first state, all the other states thought that this virus would not arrive at their doors and did not take the necessary measures to contain it from the beginning, as did the rest of the countries that do not operate in a federal system. If the virus arrives, measures are taken throughout the whole country, not only in the infected state. That is why today United States exceeds China in the number of cases infected.…
I think this is very interesting, so much goes into why each state does what especially during a time of crisis like we are having now. some things work for certain states while it does not for the next state. Thank you for this, helped me learn a lot about this topic!
I think the emphasis during this time on state policy exemplifies federalism. With the government scrambling, what has happened is the state has taken its own measures. Some have implemented a full lockdown while others have kept things more open.